Running on the Sun

I was browsing the internet with no goal in mind when I came upon a site talking about Ultramarathons. For the last several years, my goals for running has always ended at marathons – that’s all people talk about anyway. But now that I’ve completed my first marathon, I figure there must be bigger challenges out there, right? I started googling ultramarathons and eventually tried to find the best ultramarathons. Instead, what I found was a list of some of the hardest – including Badwater 135, a 135-mile race from Badwater in Death Valley to the base of Mount Whitney. Upon reading up on it, I found a couple things. First off, the government has put a stop to the Badwater 135 indefinitely while they do research on the safety of it. Second off, there was a documentary made in 2000 about the race. A quick search on YouTube yielded what I wanted – Running on the Sun, a movie following 40 people as they ran the Badwater 135.

I enjoyed the movie and I found myself taking mental notes about what these runners were going right, as well as mental critiques as to what they were doing wrong (or at least, what wouldn’t work for me). Could I see myself doing the Badwater 135? Maybe, but that would be many years in the future. I’m thinking 2015 will be a good year to target for a 50-miler and maybe work up to a 100-miler by 2017. Get a few of those under my belt and if I haven’t died yet and I still want to suffer, aim for 2019 at the earliest probably for Badwater.

I put the movies into a playlist, which I’ve embedded below. You can also just watch it on YouTube.

Top 7 Places: Trails I Want To Hike

I’ve had a fascination with hiking and long trails for a few years now. I had never been much of an outdoorsman, but while having lunch on my birthday with some friends, one friend brought up the idea of hiking the Appalachian Trail. He said it was long and might take a month to complete. I was fascinated by the idea – it was a challenge based on its scope, but easy in small doses. Upon further research, I found that my friend didn’t know what he was talking about. The idea stuck however, and here are seven long trails that I’d love to hike from end to end.

 

7: E8 European Long Distance Path

This European footpath travels through Ireland, a country I’ve already mentioned being at the top of my to-visit list, the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey. I’ve picked this path mostly because it passes through Ireland, although having never been to Europe before, getting to pass through so many countries is also enticing.

 

6: New England Trail

My original home, New England, always calls out to me. I try to return as often as possible to visit family and friends and get to enjoy the change in scenery, from fall foliage to winter blankets. It’s a short trail covering only 220 miles through southern New England.

 

5: Continental Divide Trail

The youngest of the Triple Crown routes, the Continental Divide Trail isn’t exactly complete at this point, which leaves it mostly to experienced hikers. The trail follows the Rocky Mountains through the heart of America, from Mexico to Canada through New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. The CDT is one of the longer paths at 3100 miles.

 

4: Pacific Crest Trail

Another of the Triple Crown trails, the Pacific Crest Trail travels through the west coast states of California, Oregon, and Washington. At 2650 miles, the PCT is about an equal length from the longer CDT and shorter Appalachian Trail.

 

3: Florida Trail

The trail of my current home-state, the Florida Trail racks up about 1400 miles, but has multiple sections where you can choose to go an Eastern route or a Western route. One such fork in the road goes around Lake Okeechobee on either side. Another such fork splits between Kissimmee and Ocala making up an Eastern and Western corridor. I actually live and work less than a quarter mile from the Eastern corridor, which has made it somewhat familiar to me.

 

2: John Muir Trail

I really hadn’t considered this trail until I saw the movie “Mile… Mile and a Half”.  It’s a shorter trail at about 210 miles, but hits beautiful scenery through California from Yosemite to Mount Whitney. It has a short hiking window of July through September due to the amount of snow in the higher elevations, which can even linger into the Summer months.

 

1: Appalachian Trail

“The Green Tunnel” stretches from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Mount Katahdin in Maine, stretching about 2200 miles. It typically takes about four to six months to complete and is considered a social trail due to the number of thru-hikers, section-hikers, and day-hikers. The trail runs through fourteen states, including five of the six New England states, which holds a special place in my heart.